U.S. Elections - Fight of Gladiators

First results from an opinion poll among registered voters of both parties who actually watched the last public debate between U.S. presidential candidates Obama and Romney tonight, October 22-23, at 04:16 GMT.

Obama (48%) is winning the debate against Romney (40%) while it is being considered that Republican voters in favor of Romney might have been in the majority of all those who watched the show and participated in the opinion poll.

Obama seeming only slightly more "likable" (48% vs. 47%) but stronger leader (51% vs. 46%) than Romney, both are considered able to handle the job of a commander-in-chief (Obama 63%, Romney 60%).

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Visitor Statistics for North-Eastern U.S.A. and Canada:

Crude Oil - Russia Buying British Know-How

Kremlin-near Russian oil giant Rosneft is buying British Petroleum's TNK-BP for $12.3 bn and stake in Rosneft. The new nine-member board of Rosneft will therefore include two BP members. According to Bloomberg financial TV, the whole British-Russian deal will amount to $55 bn, thus making it the third-biggest oil transaction.

Rosneft has proven oil reserves of 22.8 bn barrels. It is needing BP's know-how to tap arctic oil reserves in Siberia.

[Source: CNN and Bloomberg TV on October 22]

俄石油公司（Rosneft）收购秋明—英国石油公司（TNK-BP）

据美电视台CNN报道 被俄罗斯政府控制的俄罗斯石油公司（Rosneft）22日宣布，该公司分别与英国石油公司（BP）和俄罗斯私人财团ＡＡＲ达成协议，购买它们各自持有的秋明—英国石油公司（TNK-BP）50％的股份。TNK-BP是2003年建立的俄英公司正在设法利用北极地区的石油，私人财团AAR就是Alfa-Access-Renova财团。TNK-BP现实的石油储备228亿桶。

Mo Yan 莫言 - Chinese Author Winning Nobel Prize

Last UPDATE included on October 24 !

莫言获2012年诺贝尔文学奖

According to the Chinese service of BBC and other sources, one of China's most successful authors, Mo Yan 莫言 has obtained the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature. His best known story "Clan of the Red Sorghum 红高粱家族" even found its way to the cinema. The film based on Mo Yan's 1987 novel was released in 1988. In that year it was presented at the 38th Berlin Film Festival and won the most appreciated Golden Bear Award under its new title "Das Rote Kornfeld / The Red Corn Field". It was then that Mo Yan became known outside of China together with film director Zhang Yimou.

A Chinese film poster for "The Red Corn Field"
referring to the Golden Bear Award obtained at
the 38th Film Festival in West-Berlin. PR China
never had ideological problems with West-Berlin.

The following text is a short excerpt from the beginning of Mo Yan's masterpiece "The Red Corn Field" 红高粱家族, presented in my own translation and based on the original Chinese version I found on the internet. Sometimes brackets are added to mark expressions used for a better understanding or to avoid useless repetition of words. - Ulysses -

一九三九年古历八月初九，我父亲这个土匪种十四岁多一点。他跟着后来名满天下的传奇英雄余占鳌司令的队伍去胶平公路伏击日本人的汽车队。奶奶披着夹袄，送他们到村头。余司令说：“立住吧。”奶奶就立住了。奶奶对我父亲说：“豆官，听你干爹的话。”父亲没吱声，他看着奶奶高大的身躯，嗅着奶奶的夹袄里散出的热烘烘的香味，突然感到凉气逼人，他打了一个战，肚子咕噜噜响一阵。余司令拍了一下父亲的头，说：“走，干儿。”

In 1939, as early as August 9 according to the ancient calendar, my father was just 14 years old when he belonged to a gang of local bandits. He later followed troops under the command of legendary hero Yu Zhan Ao and who became famous everywhere at the time he "glued" a motorized unit of the Japanese [army] in a highway ambush.

Grandma, wrapped in a double-layered jacket, saw them off at the end of the village. Commander Yu said: "Stand upright !". Grandma stood upright. And she told my father: "Bean officer ! You listen to what your adoptive father is saying." [My] father didn't say a single word. He looked at grandma's tall body and smelled the hot fragrance escaping from within [her] double-layered jacket. Suddenly, he felt a cold threat and shivered, his stomach making a rumbling noise for some moment. Commander Yu patted father's head and said: "Let's go, son."

天地混沌，景物影影绰绰，队伍的杂沓脚步声已响出很远。父亲眼前挂着蓝白色的雾幔，挡住他的视线，只闻队伍脚步声，不见队伍形和影。父亲紧紧扯住余司令的衣角，双腿快速挪动。奶奶像岸愈离愈远，雾像海水愈近愈汹涌，父亲抓住余司令，就像抓住一条船舷。

Heaven and earth being in chaos and the scenery remaining indistinct, a disorderly clatter of footsteps from numerous troopers resounded in the distance. Father was facing [the fact] that he was caught in a curtain of blue and white fog blocking his view. All he heard was the sound of footsteps made by the troopers, neither seeing their bodies nor their shadows. Father closely pulled at a corner of commander Yu's [uniform], both of his legs moving fast. Now, grandma resembled a [safe] shore that became more and more distant with every step away while the fog seemed like the [waves of the] sea appearing more and more turbulent when approaching them. Father's gripping of commander Yu therefore seemed like gripping the side of a boat.

父亲就这样奔向了耸立在故乡通红的高粱地里属于他的那块无字的青石墓碑。他的坟头上已经枯草瑟瑟，曾经有一个光屁股的男孩牵着一只雪白的山羊来到这里，山羊不紧不忙地啃着坟头上的草，男孩子站在墓碑上，怒气冲冲地撒上一泡尿，然后放声高唱：高粱红了——日本来了——同胞们准备好——开始开炮——

Like this, father hurried towards his own [black] tombstone which carried no inscription and was towering aloft in the middle of a thoroughly red sorghum field at his native place. On his grave mound, withered grass is already rustling [in the wind]. Now, there is a boy with his naked backside and who has lead along a snow-white goat to this place. While the goat is neither tightened nor occupied to nibble at the grave mound's grass, the boy is standing on the tombstone, urinating in a most furious manner. Then he is singing heartily [of what sounds like]: Chinese sorghum is getting red -- The Japanese are coming -- All fellow countrymen prepare yourselves well -- Start firing the cannons --

The following excerpt can be found in the last part of the book. Some Japanese names have been translated into Chinese Pinyin syllables:

根据日本北海道地区札幌市的档案材料记载：1949年10月1日上午，札幌所属清田畋村农妇顺河贞子去山谷中收稻子，遭野人玷污……这些材料，是日本朋友中野先生帮我搜集并译成中文的，资料中所谓“野人”即指我的爷爷，引用这段资料的目的是为了说明爷爷叙述中一个重要事件发生的时间和地点。爷爷1943年中秋节被抓了劳工，同年底到达日本北海道，1944年春天山花烂漫时逃出劳工营，在山中过起了亦人亦兽的生活，到1949年10月1日，他已经在山林中度过二千多个日日夜夜。现在被我描绘着的这一天除了凌晨一场大雾使他更方便、更汹涌地回忆起故国的过去那些属于他的也属于他的亲人们的火热生活外，并没有什么特殊的意义，中午发生的事情另当别论。

Among archives material of Zha Huang township in Japan's Hokkaido region there was a record telling: "In the morning of 1st October 1949 near Qing Tian Tian village which belongs to Zha Huang township, a peasant woman following river Zhen Zi [ or: the path of chastity 贞子 (zhenzi) ] was harvesting rice in the middle of a mountain valley when she met with a savage [ chin. Ye 野 (wild) + 子 (son) = son of the wild ] who sullied ....." Such was the information. It was Mr. Ya [ jap. Ya 野 ], one of my Japanese friends, who helped me to gather and translate it into Chinese. The so-called "savage" in that material seemed to indicate my father. The purpose of quoting this piece of information is in order to explain when and where one important incident took place that appeared in father's narrations. In autumn 1943, my father was seized for manual labour and arrived on Hokkaido in Japan at the end of the same year. In spring 1944, when bright mountain flowers were in full bloom he escaped from the workers' camp. In the mountains he led a life that was half of a human and half of a beast until the first of October 1949 when he had already spent more than 2.000 days and nights in the mountain forests. Now, on the day I depicted, in addition to the great fog that came before dawn and made him more easily and more vividly recall that fervent life he had previously led in his former country, a life which belonged to him and to his family as well, the day had no special significance [for him]. The matter occurring at noon [then required] another way of thinking and a different view.

The above translated excerpts are presenting the historical frame of Mo Yan's plot in his masterpiece "The Red Cornfield". Yet, this novel is more than a diary of war but a colorful and vivid description of a single human character who is serving as a symbol for generations of people in their eternal struggle of life.

On October 24, 2012, a Chinese comment tried to cope with the different aspects of Mo Yan's novel:

《红高粱家族》：布满奇思狂想的历史真实

The Clan of the Red Sorghum: Proclaiming completely strange ideas from wild thinking about historical authenticity.

由中篇发展为长篇的《红高粱家族》仍是莫言迄今为止最具代表性、象征性的作品。这个象征性可能会伴随他的一生。

Having developed from medium-length to full length, the novel "Clan of the Red Sorghum" [or: Red Corn Field] is still up to now Mo Yan's most representative and symbolic work. That symbolic character being probably related to his own person.

Editor's remark: Very early at the beginning of the novel, "storyteller" Mo Yan is indicating that the boy singing a ferocious song of war on top of that nameless tombstone might be regarded as Mo Yan himself who is telling us the story of his father and his clan.

The book cover for one edition of "The Red Corn Field" (left) and Mo Yan's latest bestseller "The Frog 蛙" (right) that appeared in 2011:




俄罗斯文学翻译家、远东研究所高级研究员[托罗普采夫]表示，他非常高兴莫言能够获得诺贝尔文学奖。他说：“读过《红高粱》和《蛙》，应该说，张艺谋的电影能取得成功，莫言的原著功不可没。”

A Russian translator of literature and high-ranking researcher at the Far-Eastern Research Institute, [...], indicated that he was quite happy Mo Yan was able to obtain the Nobel Prize for Literature. He said: "Reading "The Red Corn Field" and "The Frog", one should say, the powerful and skilled plot of the film was able to reach [its] success, howelse could be the merits of Mo Yan's original work."

[Source: People's Daily on October 14, 2012]

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在此之前，旅居法国的中国大陆作家高行健在2000年获得诺贝尔文学奖，成为首位获得此奖项的华人作家。

Earlier, the writer Gao Xingjian 高行健, originating from mainland China and living abroad in France, had obtained the year 2000 Nobel Prize for Literature, thus becoming the first Chinese writer to win that prize.

[Chinese text quoted from BBC's Chinese website on October 11, 2012.]

Visitor access point to "blueprint news" from Paris, France. Somewhere here, Gao Xingjian should be living and working. I learnt that Gao personally participated in the French translation of his books and is selling his innovative calligraphies with remarkable success:

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Mo Yan (* 1955) is originating from a small village in China's Shandong province where good news from the Nobel Prize Committee in Stockholm reached him.

莫言兄长：农家孩子走到这一步不容易

Another Chinese source is saying about Mo Yan: "It was not easy for the son of a farmer to arrive at that point."

[Chinese text quoted from sohu.com on October 11, 2012. Further information cited from other public sources.]

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Reader's comment on a Chinese website honouring Mo Yan:

感慨啊，鲁迅和老舍可以瞑目啦，中国终于出个诺贝尔文学巨匠

A sigh of relief ! Lu Xun and Lao She would probably have died content as China finally brings about a great master of literature and who is worth the Nobel prize.

Comment by Ulysses:

Lu Xun who introduced a new style of writing literature at the beginning of the 20th century and Lao She, one of the most remarkable writers at the beginning of Communist rule in China, are being regarded as milestones in the long tradition of Chinese literature. The above mentioned Gao Xingjian, first Chinese author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, has never become so popular in mainland China like Mo Yan already is. This might be due to Gao's writings referring much closer to the "dark chapters" of Communist China's history. Once being accused of "rightism" soon after the beginning of his career, it was his personal experience that finally made him leave PR China. As a consequence, only short comments could be found on official Chinese websites at the time when Gao obtained his year 2000 Nobel Prize, and his main writings were distributed on privately maintained Chinese websites like some kind of underground literature. However both authors, Mo Yan and Gao Xing Jian, are excellent narrators who vividly and most colourful describe the national tribes of China and the sceneries they live in.

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Chinese-German Relations Marking 40 Years

The following Chinese text has been translated from yesterday's regular press conference of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. While the island dispute between China and Japan is still topping China's political agenda, the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Germany offers a pleasant contrast. The ministry's spokesman Hong Lei (above picture) was answering a relevant question:

问：德国外长韦斯特维勒将于10月11日至13日来华访问。请介绍有关情况及当前中德关系。

Question:
Germany's foreign minister Westerwelle is going to visit China on October 11-13. PLease, give an evaluation of the situation relevant to current Chinese-German relations.

答：应杨洁篪外长邀请，德国外长韦斯特维勒将于10月11日至13日来华出席第三轮中德外长级战略对话。

Answer:
Responding to foreign minister Yang Jiechi's invitation, Germany's foreign minister Westerwelle is going to visit China on October 11-13 in order to attend the third round of strategic talks on foreign minister level.

当前中德关系发展良好。两国高层保持密切接触与联系。今年4月温家宝总理赴德出席汉诺威工博会开幕式及中国伙伴国活动，推动双边关系进一步向前发展。8月默克尔总理年内第二次访华并出席第二轮中德政府磋商，双方在政治、经济以及其他重要领域达成多项共识，强调将共同推进展望未来的战略伙伴关系。

Current Chinese-German relations are developing very well. Both countries are preserving close contact and relations on a high level. In April this year, prime minister Wen Jiabao went to Germany in order to attend the Hannover industrial fair's opening ceremony [and] China's partner country activities, [thus] further propelling the development of both countries' relationship. In August [chancellor Merkel] paid her second visit to China within a year in order to attend the second round of Chinese-German governmental consultations. Both parties have reached manyfold common insight into politics, economy as well as other important fields [which is] emphasizing a joint advance to future prospects within a strategic partnership.

今年是中德建交40周年，“中国文化年”活动正在德举行。发展更为紧密的中德关系，符合两国及两国人民的根本利益。中方愿与德方共同努力，深化政治互信，促进各领域互利合作，推动两国关系不断向前发展。中方相信，韦斯特维勒外长此访将进一步推动中德展望未来的战略伙伴关系发展。

This year is marking 40 years of diplomatic relations between China and Germany, the activities of a "Chinese Culture Year" just being staged in Germany. Developing even closer tied Chinese-German relations conforms to the fundamental interest of both countries and both of its peoples. China is ready for joint efforts together with Germany [in order to] deepen mutual trust in politics, to advance a cooperation in all fields for mutual benefit and to promote a continued forward-looking development of both countries' relations. China is convinced that foreign minister Westerwelle's visit will bring further support for the development of a strategic partnership that is looking into the future.

Turkey Downs Syrian Passenger Plane

تركيا تفرج عن طائرة سورية بعد مصادرة حمولة مشبوهة

Headline:
Turkey releases a Syrian plane after confiscation of suspicious payload.

الطائرة كانت في طريقها من موسكو إلى دمشق وعلى متنها 35 راكباً

The plane was on its way from Moscow to Damascus with 35 passengers on board.

According to the Turkish news agency Al-Anadoul, four Turkish F-4 fighters should have downed the Syrian Airbus A-320 with an alleged payload of weapons. This happened after Turkey's foreign minister had said: "the gist of some intelligence [report] informs us that the plane is not respecting the rules of civil aviation":
" تلقينا معلومات مفادها أن الطائرة لا تحترم قواعد الطيران المدني "
Syrian government TV confirmed that Turkish aviation authorities had forced the plane to land in Ankara.

[Source: Al-Arabiya on October 10, 2012]

As to the subject of Who Arms Syria, you are invited to refer to another blogspot of mine.

East Asia - Arms Race Expected

Today's news are about South Korea intending to increase the radius of application for their medium range missiles from 300 to 800 km. This has become possible after South Korea signed a deal with the U.S. government. While Seoul is explaining that step with the need to reach all areas of North Korea in case of war, South Korea's neighbours Japan and China are not amused as both countries' are now, as well, within the range of missiles from the Southern part of the Korean peninsula. This comes at a time when all East Asian nations (China, Japan, North and South Korea) are involved in some kind of island dispute and are therefore suspiciously observing each other.

The tensions between East Asian countries can be felt in another press report from China confirming an earlier report from Japan about Chinese warships intending to pass through Okinawa waters on their way to the Pacific. The Chinese source People's Network is citing an official report by Japanese defence authorities informing on October 4 that seven Chinese warships had left their seaports the same day between 6 and 7 p.m.. Japanese media published the official news immediately and People's Network in China reacted promptly next day, October 5, saying that all seven vessels would pass Okinawa without leaving international waters. However, pictures included in the Chinese article are not showing Chinese warships but four vessels obviously belonging to Japan's navy:

Who Arms Syria ?

UPDATE for October 7 further down
=> Including complete interview with Ahmadi Nejad !
Latest NEWS UPDATE on October 15

Today, Al-Jazeera published the preview of an interview taken with Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad. It should have been recorded during his visit to the United Nations in New York. As to the subject of Syrian armament, Ahmadi Nejad rejected U.S. allegations of Iran sending weapons to the Assad regime over Iraqi airspace. Instead, he pointed out that any military support in this conflict for any of both sides, government and opposition, would only lead to tribal war that should destroy Syria's integrity.



Ahmadi Nejad might be a liar or not, his words seem to have the truth when it comes to arming Syria, especially when he said something like: "There are many in line before us who have always armed Syria".

I still remember another graduate who left university about the same time like me and who had something to do with material sciences. On some occasion I heard that his new employer had sent him to Syria on a German Airforce plane that took off for Damascus regularly once a week carrying military advisers and arms specialists. Because of that regular flight the plane was reportedly nicknamed "Damascus Airways". That was around 1980 under the rule of Hafiz Al-Assad who had since been regarded as being even more cruel than his son who followed him in office, until Bashir Al-Assad only recently blew the fuse and topped his father.

At first, such news of military cooperation between Syria and NATO member Germany took me by surprise because Syria was considered an ally to the Soviet empire at that time. I understand they still have a Russian naval base. Furthermore, German arms exports are very much restricted by law (what we call "Kriegswaffen-Kontrollgesetz"). Later I came to think that any Western nation, providing military equipment and being driven by the forces of an international market, would try to sell their stuff even to the devil. So, it cannot be Russia, China or Iran alone that are to be blamed for weaponry trafficking.

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Al-Jazeera's complete interview with Ahmadi Nejad, Part I:



Al-Jazeera's complete interview with Ahmadi Nejad, Part II:



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UPDATE on October 15, 2012:

Citing videos and witness accounts, Human Rights Watch said in a recent report Syrian government forces were using cluster bombs. The report says the bombs are Soviet-made, but it also says it's unclear how or when Syria may have acquired them. The Syrian government has declined all allegations.

Russia questioned the report's veracity. "There is no confirmation to this," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, according to Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency. "There are loads of weapons in this region, including in Syria and other countries of the region, and arms are supplied there in large quantities and illegally."

Read the complete news on CNN's website:
Syria denies using cluster bombs.

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Subject relevant visitor request to "blueprint news" from Moscow on October 15, 2012:

Iran - Rumours and Reality

قاضٍ أمريكى يأمر بدفع إيران وحزب الله تعويضات لضحايا أحداث سبتمبر

Demolition of America [ordered / fueled] by Iranian payment and Hezbollah compensated for [its] victims of the September incidents.

أمر قاضٍ فدرالى أمريكى أمس، الأربعاء، رسميًا بأن تدفع إيران وحزب الله وكيانات أخرى بينها القاعدة وطالبان، تعويضات بقيمة 6,048 مليارات دولار لضحايا اعتداءات 11 سبتمبر 2001

The order to [demolish] Federal America, [as has been] depicted yesterday, Wednesday [October 3], was [financed / promoted] by Iran, Hezbollah and other groups, including Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The costs of compensation amount to 6,048 billion $ for [own] victims of aggressions on September 11, 2001.

[Source: The Seventh Day - Youm 7 اليوم السابع, Cairo, October 4, 2012]

Attention !

Youm 7 is an Egyptian privately owned weekly newspaper that appears daily since May 2011. The paper was twice selected by Forbes Middle East as having the most effective news website in the Middle East. Youm7 reportedly has the most-visited website of any Egyptian newspaper.

However, the paper's politicized coverage since the 2011 Egyptian Revolution has led to calls for its boycott. Online activists in Egypt have also accused the paper of fabricating news and spreading misinformation, and at one point urged Twitter users to unfollow any profiles associated with the paper. The paper's English-language website was also hacked in July 2011, taking it offline. In May, 2012, Youm7 was again accused of fabricating the news after publishing a report alleging that the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party had organized medical convoys to provide free female genital mutilation operations to girls. The Ministry of Health immediately announced an investigation, however no other media outlet was able to confirm the allegations. The Freedom and Justice Party denied the allegations. [Source: Wikipedia]

As to me, I was astonished to find three publicity adds referring to Israel travel agencies on the Youm 7 website. This I consider to be rather unusual for a "genuine" Arabic news portal, even if some adds might be automatically generated by Google according to the page visitor's location. - Ulysses -

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أصحاب محال في البازار الكبير يقولون إنهم أغلقوا متاجرهم احتجاجا على تدهور قيمة الريال الإيراني أمام الدولار

Proprietors of [market] stalls in the Great Bazar [i.e. of Tehran] are saying they would close their [locations] in protest of the deteriorating value of Iran's [currency] Riyal in opposition to the U.S.$.

[Source: Al-Jazeera, Arabic TV on October 3, 2012]

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Visitor access point to "blueprint news", activated from Yemen:

Syria - Turkey calling for NATO support

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UPDATE for October 4, 2012:
[Haaretz, Tel Aviv / Reuters]

- Turkey's parliament gave authorization on Thursday for military operations outside Turkish borders if the government deemed them necessary.

- Turkish artillery hit targets near Syria's Tel Abyad border town for a second day on Thursday, killing several Syrian soldiers according to activists and security sources. Targeted Syrian position is being regarded as the origin of yesterday's shelling that killed at least five Turkish civilians.

- Turkey says, Syria apologized via UN for the mortar strike that killed five Turkish citizens the day before.

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Syrian mortar fire killing 5 Turkish civilians (women and children) in the Turkish border town of Akcakale, has triggered off a dangerous response from Turkey that is now seeking NATO support for a military involvement of Turkey's allies. A NATO emergency meeting has just ended in Brussels, however, no official statement has been issued so far.

It seems that isolated Syrian mortar fire has already been answered by Turkish shelling on a very low scale. Similar shellings from the Syrian side have been observed earlier but remained without consequences. The problem can be seen in a concentration of small villages in the border region between both countries where any intense fighting would sooner or later produce a heavy death toll among civilians.

[Sources: CNN and Al-Jazeera, English news, on October 3, 2012]

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Consultations between Syria and Iran

Meanwhile, Syrian president Assad is on a visit to Tehran, Syria's most important ally.

رويترز: بيان لحلف الأطلسي يطالب بالوقف الفوري للاعتداءات على تركيا بوصفها عضوا في الحلف

Reuters [news agency]: A declaration [on behalf of] the Atlantic Pact [NATO] is demanding an immediate suspension of aggressions against Turkey as a member of the alliance.

وزير الإعلام السوري: نحقق في مصدر النيران الذي أدى لمقتل أم وأولادها في تركي

Syria's minister of information: We enquire into the source of [fire] that accomplished the killing of a mother and her children in Turkey.

[Source: Al-Jazeera, Arabic TV, on October 3, 2012]

UFOs over China ?

神农架现不明飞行物轨迹 气象专家无法解释

Shennongjia apparently not understanding the position of flying objects. - Meteorologists don't have explanation.

Yesterday, 1st October, 2012, unknown flying objects have been detected in the sky over Shennongjia holiday resort in Hubei province.

Some 12 flight trajectories (i.e. vapour trails) have been observed and photographs have been taken by a Chinese citizen whom the Chinese source named a "patriot".

[Source: China News Web on Oktober 2, 2012]

As nobody seems to know the origin of those 12 trajectories running parallel in the morning sky at Shennongjia, I tried to find out something more by choosing one of them that could be easily measured on a Chinese photo. A reference object (tree) from the photo was chosen for the calculation of the real length of that trajectory at an assumed heigth of 10.000 m. If there were more than one photos taken in a short period of time, it should be possible to determine those parts of vapour trails that are changing within a certain time. Thereafter, a calculation of the flying objects' speed should be possible. Even though the time of exposure for the camera was reported (1/13 second) this should not be enough for the purpose.

Tree: 2.8 units of length => 2.8 [m] assumed height of tree, taken as a length reference for the following calculations.

Virtual object: 0.7 units of length => 0.7 [m] that could be interpreted as a flight trajectory with a real length of about 12 km.

Inaccuracy accepted for the assumptions used in the above calculation, it seems realistic that so many objects, flying in the same direction, could be interpreted as different missiles at supersonic speed.

Hubei Province

Most probably, these are disabled medium-range ballistic missiles or parts of them, either used for a demonstration of military strength or for a test of China's missile warning system by some interested party.

Therefore, nothing to worry about.

Same thing happened during a Russian missile test when luminous traces of disabled rockets could be observed in the nightly sky over Israel and Syria. I included that story in one of my recent blogspots as some kind of "political omen".

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Postcard from the Cataracts of Iguacu in Parana, Brazil.

Iran - Before The Storm

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UPDATE for 1st October, 2012:

مصوّر أحمدي نجاد ينشق ويطلب اللجوء السياسي بأمريكا

Photographer of Ahmadi Nejad defected and is seeking political asylum in America.

تمكّن من الهروب من الوفد المرافق للرئيس الإيراني خلال زيارته للأمم المتحدة

Realization of the defection from the delegation that accompanied the Iranian president during his visit to the Security Council.

[Source: Al-Arabiya on 1st October, 2012]

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After U.S. president Obama and Israel's prime minister Netanyahu in the sharpest form expressed their determination to wage war with Iran, Iranian leader Ahmadi Nejad called the international community for help. In the frame of an unfriendly exchange of opinion in the United Nations' General Assembly, now Russia's voice makes itself being heard:

俄称不希望对伊朗实施军事打击反对扩大制裁

Russia says it doesn't wish to carry out a military attack against Iran and opposes extended sanctions.

That is what Russia's deputy minister of foreign affairs, Sergei Ryabkov, said according to a quotation in China News Network 中新网 on September 29, 2012.

里亚布科夫表示，我们希望，今年年底和明年都不会对伊朗实施任何打击。

Ryabkov stated: "We hope there won't be any attack carried out against Iran [till] the end of this year and next year."

任何军事对抗的决定只会摧毁可能就伊核相关问题达成共识而出现的希望。

Whatever military confrontation will be decided, it can only destroy hopes of an agreement probably to be reached on the interrelated questions of Iran's nuclear [program].

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Iran's Intranet

According to Al-Jazeera TV on September 29, 2012, Iran is planning to install a nationwide intranet. Up to now, 10.000 computers should already be linked to that net which makes it impossible to attack them via internet.

Virus infection of electronic control devices, needed in the enrichment process of uranium, had caused damage to Iran's enrichment program some time ago. The internet virus Stuxnet that succeeded to infiltrate computers at a nuclear research facility and physically damaged a certain number of uranium centrifuges, is said to have originated from the U.S. and Israel.

As a side-effect, the nationwide installation of an intranet would enable Iranian authorities to enjoy a better control of private computers in its country, even more as it is still unclear whether the world-wide-web would be allowed to exist side by side with the new national computer network.

Above: Siemens Simatic S7-300 PLC CPU with three I/O modules attached. Such are the controlling units for gas centrifuges used in an Iranian plant for the enrichment of uranium. Stuxnet was able to infect the host and changed the operational conditions of three attached centrifuge motors to "unsafe operation". That means a constant change from very low frequency of rotation to a very high frequency exceeding that of normal operation. Of course, such treated centrifuges broke down very soon.

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Visitor access point to "blueprint news" activated from Ramat Gan in Tel Aviv district, Israel:

Cold Greetings from Iceland:

Island Dispute - Japan Ready For War ?

Last UPDATE: September 30, 2012

Yesterday, September 26, 2012, at the United Nations General Assembly, Japan's prime minister Yoshihiko Noda (photo above) said that Diaoyu Island (which the Japanese call Senkaku) should be regarded as an integral part of Japan's territory and that Japan would not compromise on the item.

The day before, at UN General Assembly, China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi had used a similar stance to inform his Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba that China would not compromise either.

[Source: Al-Jazeera on September 27, 2012]

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Even Japan's opposition can be expected to follow the government because the Liberal Democratic Party's new leader is known as a hawk when it comes to Chinese-Japanese relations.

As stances are getting tougher, military action between both sides cannot be excluded any longer. Even more as activists from Taiwan were showing up at Diaoyu Island, some days ago, to protest against Japan's territorial claims.

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A request at the regular press conference of China's foreign ministry, held on September 26, delivers a glimpse of China's position in the Diaoyu conflict. The ministry's spokesman Hong Lei answered journalist questions:

问：今天，日本前首相安倍晋三当选自民党新总裁，有可能成为日新首相。中方对此有何评论。

Question:
Today, Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe has been elected the Liberal [Democratic] Party's new leader who could become Japan's new prime minister. What comment does China have regarding this subject ?

答：这是日本内政，我不作评论。

Answer:
This is regarding Japan's internal politics. I don't comment on this.

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Editor's Note:
Japan's tough-talking former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who has taken a hawkish stance against China and South Korea on the subject of the notorious island disputes between Tokyo and those countries, has been elected as president of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party LDP.

Abe, who defeated ex-defense chief Shigeru Ishiba in a run-off election Wednesday, September 26, could get another chance to lead Japan, if the LDP wins next election as polls suggest. [Source: The Chosun Ilbo Online, Tokyo, September 27, 2012]

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问：安倍晋三在担任日首相期间曾处理过对华事务，中方对他在中日关系发展中所发挥的作用有何评论，对两国关系发展有何期待？

Question:
Shinzo Abe, while holding the office of Japan's prime minister, dealt with China related affairs. What comment has the Chinese side to give with regard to him, concerning [his] intentions that came into play in the frame of a development of Chinese-Japanese relations ? What expectations [does China have] for the development of both countries' relations ?

答：当前中日关系面临十分严峻的局面，这完全是由于日方罔顾中方强烈反对、执意非法“购买”钓鱼岛造成的，其全部责任应完全由日方承担。我们要求日方打消幻想，切实纠正错误，停止一切损害中国领土主权的行为，回到谈判解决钓鱼岛问题的正确轨道上来，为改善中日关系创造条件。

Answer:
Current Chinese-Japanese relations are confronted with an extremely grim situation. This is completely due to Japan not taking in consideration China's strong opposition and is caused by [Japan's] determination to illegally "buy" Diaoyu Island. [Therefore], Japan should completely bear total responsibility. We demanded the Japanese side to give up [their] illusions, to earnestly correct their mistakes and to stop every action that is damaging China's territorial rights. Coming up on the right way of returning to talks [in order] to settle the issue of Diaoyu Island would improve the creation of [favourable] conditions for Chinese-Japanese relations.

[Source: People's Network, Beijing, on September 26, 2012]

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Impact of Tensions on East Asia's Economy

On September 20, CNN reported on East Asia's economy suffering from the financial crisis in Europe. A remarkable slowdown has been observed in, both, China and Japan. While Japan's export has shrunk 5.8 % in August, Shanghai Composite stocks have fallen by nearly 8 % this year. Other East Asian stock markets (Nikkei, Hang Seng and Seoul Kospi) closed with negative reports as well on the reference date of September 20, 2012. On that day, the Japanese Nikkei index suffered a loss of -1.57 % which is comparable with a -2.08 % loss for the Shanghai Composite index.

On September 29, 2012, the Chinese edition of the The Wall Street Journal wrote about a 5.4 % decrease in export for all sorts of Japanese motorcars (i.e. limousines, trucks and busses) during the last eight months. Production numbers sank from 363.800 to 344.049 in August 2012. It should be added that public traffic in Mainland China is, up to now, extensively using Japanese vehicles.

"The Wall Street Journal" in Chinese
on Japanese Car Production in 2012:



In addition to the impact of global causes, both national economies, in China and in Japan, will increasingly suffer from political tensions between both countries. Chinese protesters calling for a boycott of Japanese goods are the first to point at the most vulnerable point of Japan's economy - its exports to China which make mainland China the most important market for Japan's economy. Sure, China will suffer as well from bilateral tensions. However Japan seems to be even more vulnerable because of its energy problem caused by the Fukushima incident and which forced Japan to think over its nuclear program. On the other side, China has its own natural resources, including natural gas, while crude oil has already been stored in great amounts during past years when China negotiated treaties with oil producing countries.

Furthermore, China is on good terms with most of its neighbours. Regular meetings in the frame of APEC and SCO unite China's leadership with other Asian leaders like Russia's strongman Putin on the basis of common interest. China is even promoting the development of regional markets in Asia in its own interest. That's why Hu Jintao recently met with Afghanistan's president Karzai and with Kazakhstan's newly elected president Akhmetov. As to the Kazakh subject, here another request answered on the above-mentioned press conference of China's foreign ministry on September 26:

另有记者问及：哈萨克斯坦总统已任命阿赫梅托夫为新总理，中方对此有何评论？中方如何看待中哈关系发展前景？

Question:
Has the president of Kazakhstan already appointed Akhmetov as new prime minister ? Is there any comment from the Chinese part to that subject ? How does China regard the prospects of developing relations between China and Kazakhstan ?

洪磊表示，我们对阿赫梅托夫先生就任哈萨克斯坦总理表示祝贺。中哈是友好邻邦和全面战略伙伴，两国关系具有广阔的发展前景。中方愿与哈方继续共同努力，推动中哈全面战略伙伴关系不断向前发展，造福两国人民。

Answer:
Hong Lei indicates that China expresses its gratulations towards Mr. Akhmetov taking the office of Kazakhstan's prime minister. China and Kazakhstan are friendly neighbouring countries and overall strategic partners. The relations between both countries possess broad prospects of development. China is willing to continue together with Kazakhstan their common great efforts and carry ahead an uninterrupted development of the Chinese-Kazakh overall strategic partnership that benefits both countries' peoples.

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In the middle of a violent dispute between both countries:
PR China is celebrating "40 Years of Negotiations" with Japan.
[Source: People's Network, Beijing, on September 28, 2012]

Above: China's leaders meeting with Japanese prime ministers.
Mao Tse Tong (September 1972), Deng Xiao Ping (October 1978), Jiang Ze Min (November 1998), Hu Jin Tao (May 2008).


Editor's Opinion:

The United States of America would be badly advised to help their Japanese junior partners, isolated in the region, in their struggle for Diaoyu Island unless they want to risk a longterm engagement that would cost them more money, reputation (and probably troops) they could ever imagine.

A Chinese comment is indicating that the Diaoyu conflict originated from U.S. interference in favour of Japan rather than from a century-old quarrel between regional powers. In other words, Japan would probably never have mentioned that subject if Tokyo was not backed by a questionable U.S. strategy that makes it difficult for China to deliver an adequate answer to the territorial claims of Japanese hardliners. Such evaluation of Japan's recent behaviour towards China (and South Korea) should make the U.S. remember their own war against Japan in the 1940s when many of their best troops perished in a bloody battle against Japan's imperialism that had invaded vast areas of East and South East Asia. Until now, that battle has often been referred to as "island hopping", kind of strategy the U.S. and Japan have just been training together in their latest joint maneuvres .....

China and its Sphere of Influence:

Visitor access point activated for a subject related request in "blueprint news" from the Honolulu / Pearl Harbor region of Hawaii:

Afghanistan - Nato Leaving, China Coming

China's top security official and member of Communist Party's politburo, Zhou Yongkang, paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan, where he met with President Hamid Karzai on issues ranging from investment and bilateral trade to terrorism and drug trafficking, China's state-run news agency XINHUA said Sunday.

Beijing kept the visit secret because of security concerns, the agency said.

[Source: CNN Online quoting XINHUA agency on September 23]

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Earlier on June 8, 2012, China's President Hu Jintao had held talks with his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, in the frame of an SCO summit that took place in Beijing at that time (picture above). He offered a five-point proposal for future talks between high-ranking officials of both countries.

2012 Summit of the "Shanghai Cooperation Organisation" SCO



[Source: Website of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 8, 2012]

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It should not surprise that it was China's top security official, Zhou Yongkang, who now came to Kabul because deteriorating security in Afghanistan is a crucial point in the development of bilateral relations.

As to security problems between Afghanistan and China, the following text has been quoted from a relevant article published by Al-Jazeera the day before:

الصين وأفغانستان.. علاقات ما بعد الناتو

China and Afghanistan - Relations After Nato [Engagement]

تعكس عناوين الاتفاقيات هواجس أمنية لدى البلدين، والتطلعات الاقتصادية الصينية في أفغانستان، ففيما يتعلق بالجانب الأمني تتزايد مخاوف بكين بشأن تدهور الأمن مع جارتها أفغانستان والتي تشترك معها في حدود يبلغ طولها 76 كيلومترا

Both sides are [reconsidering] an agreement of security obsession on the part of both countries as China's economic ambitions in Afghanistan are being related to the security aspect of increasing dangers [due to] deteriorating security that is [raging in] Afghanistan and [even] reaching the border of [both] countries which stretches over 76 km.

[Source: Al-Jazeera Online on September 24, 2012]

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The following text is a quotation from China Daily's article on Zhou Yongkang visiting Kabul and dated September 24 (last update), 2012:

Zhou said China is willing to make due contributions to peace and stability in Afghanistan, which is at a critical transition period.

"We will continue to provide assistance to Afghanistan with no attached conditions and sincerely hope the Afghan people can regain peace as soon as possible and build a better home in a peaceful environment," he added.

The United States has said that Washington and its allies will completely withdraw their troops from Afghanistan by 2014, leaving the country to stand on its own.

Karzai said Afghanistan would like China to be involved in its reconstruction efforts and is expecting China to play a bigger role in the peaceful development of Afghanistan and the region.

Official figures showed that by the end of 2011, China's direct investment into Afghanistan stood at about $200 million and the aggregate contract value of projects undertaken by Chinese constructors in Afghanistan reached nearly $600 million. In addition, about 20 China-aided projects in Afghanistan were completed between 2002 and 2011.

Karzai said China is among the first batch of countries that invested in Afghanistan, which brought concrete benefits to the Afghan people, and Afghanistan welcomes China to expand investment.